DalyDose of…Kids Today

You know that you’re getting old when you say things like “these kids today”. I’ve been saying that a lot lately while I roam though this thing called life. I’m not apologizing for it, but I don’t blame the upcoming generation for their ills. In fact, I have no singular blame. I’ve broken it down to two culprits; I blame MTV and “time out”.

I’m sorry parenting books and Viacom, but I’ve got my own thoughts on these subjects and some of you aren’t going to like it. Don’t worry, I’ll punish myself to some time in the corner and then to watching an episode of Jersey Shore…that’ll teach me.

MTV

Those of who are not in the category of “these kids today” remember a time when the M in MTV stood for “music” instead of “moron” as it currently does. Our televisions became the radio and we had but one station to tune into. We had a shared experience with everyone we knew…and didn’t know.

We were sort of genre free. We would watch videos from Bon Jovi, Madonna, Prince, Twisted Sister, Michael Jackson, Pat Benatar & Run DMC in the same commercial-free hour. We even had the double letter types like ZZ Top and LL Cool J, and it wasn’t unheard to like them all.

MTV gave us all common ground. Sure, we still had our individual tastes, but we knew we could co-exist. We had an understanding of each other. I’ll go ahead and say that we had a community and it surrounded the phenomena of MTV.

Now, MTV has a bunch of reality TV that doesn’t promote understanding. Rather is puts differences on display to make fun of or to be pitted against each other in an endless stream of moronic reality shows. These kids don’t stand a chance.

Time Out

Long before the effects of MoronTV kick in, the kids have had a significantly different experience than what most of my friends and I grew up with. Today it seems as though a kid can burn down a building and all the parents will do about it is say “that’s gonna be 20 minutes of quiet time for you”

What are these kids scared of? Nothing. I’m telling you that if my punishment was going to be time by myself without anyone yelling or inflicting pain to my hindquarters, that would be acceptable risk. I don’t see silent contemplation as a good acting out verdict.

We learned young what consequences awaited for misbehavior. It got the point that a mere look could send the message that one might want to consider not doing whatever it was that earned the warning gaze. The punishment stakes were higher and thus the deterrent factor was greater.

We never called 911 because we got spanked and Child Protective Services would have laughed at us.

Conclusion

Yeah, I might be getting old and grumpy, but some childhood prepared me to behave in spite of the annoyances. Some well time but whuppins taught me the discipline to realize that actions have *real* consequences. MTV taught me that in spite of our differences that we can all find common ground and that shared experiences bring us closer.